After playing two seasons for the Michigan Wolverines, edge rusher Josaiah Stewart announced on Monday that he’ll be leaving Ann Arbor, declaring for the NFL draft. Throughout his career as a Wolverine, Stewart never matched the impressive 12½ sacks that he racked up as a freshman playing in the Sun Belt for Coastal Carolina. That said, the Big Ten is a difficult conference filled with some of the best talent in all of college football. Given the Wolverines’ formidable schedule, he was nothing less than a consistent force on the edge. His draft declaration leaves a major hole in Michigan’s defense. The Wolverines will need to act quickly if they want to nab an equally talented defensive end from the transfer portal.
At 6 feet 1, 245 pounds, Stewart is small for a prototypical edge rusher. Nonetheless, he’s shown an incredible ability to leverage his speed and durability to get into the backfield and cause havoc for opposing QBs. During his tenure with Michigan, Stewart racked up 5½ sacks and nine tackles for loss in his junior year playing for the National Champion Wolverines squad in 2023. He showed improvement the following year, racking up 8½ sacks and 13 tackles for loss as the best pass rusher for the Wolverines in 2024. Although Stewart had always played around elite talent at Michigan, his individual impact on the team’s development cannot be overstated. Stewart helped establish an elite pass-rush unit in 2024 alongside Mason Graham (a projected top-10 pick) and Kenneth Grant (another probable first-rounder if he declares), setting the tone on the edge.
According to NFL Mock Draft Database, Stewart is currently projected to go in the third-round. That said, some mock drafts have him as high as a late first-rounder. Honestly, it’s too early to tell. It will all depend on the NFL draft order and the hierarchy of needs for each team, which won’t come into full view until the NFL regular season has completed and the official draft order has been established.
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